Waiting for a good deal on a last minute cruise

[starprotected]

Hi all!!

I have been on a couple of cruises and my husband and I are looking to go on one this summer. Since I am a teacher, I have summer off and can go at the last minute. Due to other projects going on, money is a little tight, so I hear that I can get a great deal on a cruise by waiting until the last minute. I have picked out about 4 different cruises that I am watching and anxiously waiting for the price to drop. The dates that I am looking to do this is June 25 - July 8 area. Is it possible to get a good deal during this time? How long should I continue to watch for prices to drop? Will waiting until the week of the cruise be beneficial?

It does not matter the itinerary, because we can make the best at any location. We just want to take a cruise! However, I do not want to end up in a really bad cabin or on NCL (I hear nothing but bad things about that one).

Any advise about waiting until the last minute would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

[CruiserBruce]

Where? What cruise location.

 

It is possible to get a moderately good deal after final payment, but there is no promise, and what you consider a good deal may not be one to someone else. The only cabin available might be the tiniest inside closet, and you will have little or no choice.

 

On the other hand, maybe you will get lucky and get a good cabin. Generally, after final payment sales try to get the boat filled offering cheap low level cabins, and they upgrade people who have already paid higher fares into better cabins.

[Keith1010]

You should book sooner rather than later. Usually the lowest price cabins go first as to the best cabin locations in each category. By delaying your decision you will likely end up with a sub optimal cabin and/or a cabin in a more expensive category than you might have booked in the first place.

 

Keith

[Hlitner]

This is actually a very good time to get an excellent deal on cruises in Europe. The mass-market cruise lines moved an unprecidented number of ships over to the Med and other European areas this summer in expectation of a great market. But the high fuel prices and faultering economy have combined to reduce travel and now they have lots of ships without lots of passengers. We have seen quite a few great deals that include airfare.

 

Hank

[cruiserking]

If you see a good deal now book it. If you wait too long all of the decent cabin locations will disappear and the whatever savings you muster won't even be worth it.

 

Most August cruises are sold out, June and July are right around the corner. The HAL Veendam sails out of New York to Bermuda and the Queen Mary 2 does a five day Canada/New England on July 1 round trip NY.

 

Jonathan

[cherylandtk]

It is a supply and demand issue. You may see great deals but you may not. Last minute airfare could eat up your savings on the cruise fare. Where can you leave from? Where do you want to go? What type cabin are you willing to book? If you share more specifics about the four cruises you are thinking of you will get better answers about the pricing structure.

[lakeguy]

sound advice all. if the only consideration is saving a couple of dollars this might be ok, but in my opinion the disadvantages far outway the savings.

For us the antisipation is half the fun, shopping for something new to wear, booking the best shore excursions before they sell out, researching the cabin location onboard the ship so we don't wind up with something under/over/next door to a noisy area. All are advantages to booking early. Also last minute air can be a killer. Whatever you decide, good luck.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Summer is a tuff time ships sale full

[starprotected]

Sorry, I neglected some information. I was talking about a Carribbean cruise. I live in FL so I am only a couple of hours away from any port. I have noticed some 7 day cruises that are leaving within a week or two that are going for about $389 to $499. That is a great price for me. I wondered if this trend was consistent throughout the summer months.

Thanks for all of your help

[starprotected]

As far as cabins go, inside would be fine with us as long as it was not a noisy cabin. my experience with this is nil. I would not even begin to know which ones were the noisy cabins. Again Thanks for all your help

[firefly333]

Sorry, I neglected some information. I was talking about a Carribbean cruise. I live in FL so I am only a couple of hours away from any port. I have noticed some 7 day cruises that are leaving within a week or two that are going for about $389 to $499. That is a great price for me. I wondered if this trend was consistent throughout the summer months.

Thanks for all of your help

 

May will be less than June because some kids are still in school.

 

June and July will be the highest.

 

I got a cruise for 3 days to nowhere over last July 4th weekend due to a minor hurricane. I booked the day of the cruise to get it. I had to wait on cancellations to come in. Almost missed the ship, so probably wouldnt be booking again the day of the cruise.

 

It was only $129 X 2 plus taxes. I went solo, but on Carnival you pay double. I didnt have time to get a roomie that late.

 

Watch the weather and if it gets bad you might benefit from cancellations.

 

Prices only go up from here .. until the last two weeks of August where they die down again.

[Colorado Kat]

I know Carnival has "Pack and go" rates. Put out on Wed for last minute deals. Mostly people who are within driving distance use these. I am sure other lines have similar deals.

 

See if you can sign up for last minute deal alerts on each cruise line, and keep checking. Summer is busiest, since kids are out of school, but since you are a teacher, you know that already.

 

Good luck, and I hope you get a fabulous cruise!

[travlnblueberries]

We just planned a last minute cruise. We are sailing out in three weeks. The price went up $50.00 when I booked. I was bummed, but when I checked the next day (after we booked) the price went up again $100.00. I would suggest, if you see a price you are happy with and could manage, book it. Don't wait too long or the prices may go higher.

[Cruisin' Chick]

The reason why you can go during that time is the reason that there's a high demand then: because school is out for most students by mid or late-June, many families go on vacation. You can let those cruiselines know you're available for a last minute cruise, but I would imagine that most cruiseships in June are sailing full.

[Hlitner]

sound advice all. if the only consideration is saving a couple of dollars this might be ok, but in my opinion the disadvantages far outway the savings.

For us the antisipation is half the fun, shopping for something new to wear, booking the best shore excursions before they sell out, researching the cabin location onboard the ship so we don't wind up with something under/over/next door to a noisy area. All are advantages to booking early. Also last minute air can be a killer. Whatever you decide, good luck.

 

We hear you and often book cruises far in advance. This is particularly true when we want a long cruise on a special itinerary. But, the last minute booking can also be lots of fun ans save much more then "a couple of dollars." And keep in mind that "last minute" in the cruise world starts the day after final payments are due....which is often as long as 3 or 4 months in advance. Once the final payments have been processed by the cruise line they take a good look at each cruise and apply some "yield managment" techniques to determine the best way to fill those empty cabins. Sometimes this can translate into spectacular bargains. For example, this past October we happened to spot a 12 day Celebrity Mercury cruise (12 days) where X was offering outside cabins for $43 per passenger day! Since this cruise left from Baltimore (a 1 1/2 hour drive for us) we booked it. Since we are Elite with X we got all the usualy benefits including 2 hour daily free cocktail parties, Elite breakfasts with Champagne, Bloody Marys, etc. In the end it was almost like they paid us to take this cruise. Currently, there are some amazing bargains for those who want to take a Med cruise where the airfare is even included. Some of these deals appear to cost as little as 50% of the fares paid by those already booked. These deals can be lots of fun for we retirees who have the ability to travel with relatively little notice. We see these last minute deals as a supplement to our regular cruise schedule...

 

Hank